by The Kingpin » Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:05 pm
His plans now clarified, Septimus decided to take the time to explore his old home. to get the most out of his brief stay. nuzzling his mother and grandfather, he turned and leapt off the cliff, his massive wings unfurling as he took to the air, a single powerful thump sending the young Hueilin into the sky as he rose to the height of the peaks around him, gliding over the valley as he looked down towards the forest and lakes around the dip in the mountainous terrain, marvelling at the sheer beauty of it. rich shades of green the likes of which were unseen elsewhere, carpeted the landscape. massive trees hundreds of feet tall littered the area, nestled between much shorter trees, many of which had strange sea anemone-like tendrils swaying softly in the breeze, which acted as a feeding spot and perch for the many shimmering, flying creatures transformed by the Mana Well. Dragons could be seen streaking across the sky below, most of them not far from ground level, Septimus alone in his high-flying habit; a fact he was known for as a youngling. Deciding to descend and let those who had not seen him yet know of his return, the Dragon tilted he tip of his tail downwards slightly, shifting into a controlled dive. This new tail fin was incredibly effective at controlling his flight. smirking, the Dragon pulled one wing in slightly as he beat the other, driving himself into a spin as he neared the ground, some of the Dragons below making way for the barrelling creature plummeting towards them, only for Septimus to break out of the spinning dive with a twist of his tail and a powerful beat of his long wings, softening his descent so that he landed in a fast walk, furling his wings as he stopped by a lake, the glow of the Mana Well visible beneath the surface. All around the young Dragon, other Hueilin of varying ages socialised, a few of them stopping to see who had just landed in their midst...
"Well well, if it isn't Septimus. You've grown quite a bit since I last saw you. S'pose I can't all you shorty anymore, hm?" growled one of the Dragons similar to his own size, Septimus' gaze shifting to the Dragon. "Sardanus. Was wondering where you were hiding, you big-horned goat" responded Septimus jokingly as he smirked. "Says the one who's grown several more feet's worth of them" responded Sardanus, Septimus smirking slyly "Well, let's just say I've been 'busy' while I was away. Unlike you, I'd imagine" growled the Scholar. Sardanus laughing as he retorted "Oh, I've been really busy. Ask around. The Dragonesses would be glad to fill you in". "Yeah? I'm willing to bet anything it's old Morian. But I suppose that's fair enough seeing as the ones our age don't have the patience to put up with your self-promotion" responded Septimus with a smirk, snickers breaking out around them. "You'd be surprised how close to the truth that really is" quipped Eirwyn, a slender young silver-scaled Dragoness on Septimus' other side, laying by the lake and craning her neck to eye the two. Septimus shook his head. "Oh, I don't think I would. Poor Sardanus' whole 'I'm awesome, love me' attitude really isn't working for him" responded Septimus with a smirk, as Sardanus opened his mouth to retort, obviously offended, though being cut off by Septimus as he growled "Oh, lighten up, Sardanus! First time you've seen me in months and you're already trying to toss taunts my way. I was honestly hoping for a 'Wow, Septimus! Long time no see! How was the world beyond the peaks? Interesting runes you have there! you look well! Oh, I've been well how've you been?'. Nope. Apparently it's better to poke fun" growled Septimus with a smirk as he cocked his head, quirking a brow, a few of the other Dragons around them chuckling at the comment, Sardanus attempted to laugh it off, shaking his head. "You know how it is. Gotta tease my favourite little fish nibbler" growled the marginally larger male, Septimus chuckling as he shook his head. "It'd work better if you were actually good at it" he rumbled with a grin, Sardanus knocking his horned head against Septimus' flank. "All jokes aside, how HAVE you been managing the last few months?" growled Eirwyn curiously, Sardanus going quiet, admittedly curious enough to hold his tongue and find out what his friend had been doing since he left Drakhunmiir. The black and gold Dragon lay on his flank by the edge of the lake, watching as Septimus lowered his head to drink for a bit before lifting his head to tell them...
"Well let's see. Men and elves live in cities and villages that dot the continent. They trade food, drink, material to cover their bodies, armour, weapons and other things for gold. They don't take kindly to unusual occurances. Quite a few of them fear Dragons, which are relatively rare and in several cases vicious bloodthirsty monsters, though I have seen a few examples to the contrary and I'm sure there are many more. Gryphons are fairly common, and serve as mounts for the men and elves to ride on. Same with horses, though the latter are quite a bit more common than the former. Things are a bit less colourful out there than here, and there are lots and lots and lots of things that want to kill you. More or less sums it up I think" growled Septimus. "Have you found any of the ones Arashi exiled?" asked one Dragon, relatively slender in build and completely covered in black scales aside from a long black mane that ran from the base of his skull down his spine to the fan-like tip of his long tail, the Dragon's iris shimmering a light emerald green instead of whitish cyan like Septimus'. "I've been looking, Lazarus. not much luck yet. though I haven't had that much time to explore. Aster's huge. And if they're moving as much as I am, I don't think I'm gonna find them very quickly" responded Septimus. the Dragon sighed, disheartened, his gaze locked on Septimus as if he had been expecting more. "I'm actually leaving tonight to continue my search" he growled. "Already? You just got back" growled Sardanus, Septimus shrugging. "With Arashi out there who knows what'll happen if he finds them. He exiled them out of some misconception that he was protecting me. I would feel it's my fault if anything happened to them. Knowing Arashi he'd brainwash them and turn them against us" growled the Dragon. "Something already happened to them. That's why their out there now" growled Lazarus lowly, a bitter tone creeping its way into his voice. "And as you can see, some Dragons still blame me, and in some cases my mother, for his actions, when we had no control over it. My mother's shifted his decisions several times, and lightened the blow, and STILL she gets blamed by Dragons like Lazarus here" growled Septimus, turning his gaze towards the black Dragon. "Many of us know better though" growled Eirwyn, attempting to disable the situation. Septimus nodded. "I know. But the way it looks, it's a sad fact that the majority are ignorant. The ones who didn't know us personally blame us for Arashi's actions. My mother's treated like an outcast amongst Clan Khulruud when she actually did her best to keep Arashi from doing the things he did" murmured Septimus with a sigh. "How would you know? She never spoke out in front of the others against him. For all anyone knows, she could've been behind his madness" hissed Lazarus, Septimus' lips curling into a snarl. "Oh sure, convince one of the most powerful Psychomancers the Hueilin have ever known to do what you want him to. Like that's gonna work. Besides, you saw how volatile Arashi was in the last weeks before he was exiled. Tanwen could've been killed if she spoke out against him publically" Interrupted Sardanus with a snort as he eyed Lazarus. "If you think it's so easy why don't you go out there and find Arashi and convince him to be nice. Let me know what happens....if there's anything left of you but ash" he added as he edged towards Lazarus. "I would, but I seem to remember a certain young Dragon here claiming he'd go and become stronger than Arashi, then come back and prove it to him. I believe it's his job, not mine, to face Arashi" retorted the Black Dragon through narrow eyes, failing to move from his spot. "Well, One day I hope I can, but the way it looks, it'd take a lot more than me to face him. What with him having faced Demons and imprisoned or enslaved a Demon Lord bent on destroying the continent and all. But of course, that information happened during a period of time the Elders have tried to hide from you, so you wouldn't know" responded Septimus. Sardanus and Eirwyn eyed the former Exile in surprise. "How'd you find that out?" asked Eirwyn curiously, Septimus shrugging. "Some faction whose leaders pass on their memories to their successors. They told me about it. They told me about how he had crossed an ocean in search of power and found another continent in the middle of a war against Demons. It was apparently overrun or something and Arashi left, but he came back much stronger than he was when he left, so something worked for him. He got back and ran into an Archdemon mangling two nations of Men, and enslaved it like it was nothing. The knowledge they gained from from him ended up sending one of those factions into the sea. Only a Mana Well's worth of magic kept them all from drowning" growled Septimus, Lazarus grunting at the story, obviously sceptical. "What about the other faction?" growled Sardanus. "Well, they're still around, but I don't know what they did after the incident with Arashi. My guess is they stopped dealing with any magic that dealt with Demonology. Their borders start at the foot of the mountain range, actually" explained Septimus. "Yeah. sure" hissed Lazarus, Sardanus snarling irritably, getting up and walking towards the black Dragon "Hey you little black lump of grime, if you don't like it, leave. I've had it with your whining. You've done nothing but whine about Mayara for the last 6 months. If you care so much about her, GO FIND HER. It'd save everyone the trouble of dealing with your whining and accusations. Septimus can't control Arashi, nor can Tanwen. You seem to think they actually WANTED to break up your little love story" snarled the larger male, Lazarus standing up to face him, eyes narrowed. "So what are you going to do about it?" challenged the black Dragon, Sardanus lifting a clawed hand with the intention of attacking. "Don't" growled Septimus as he walked forward, Sardanus looking at Septimus confusedly. "I'm right here Lazarus. You really want to blame me for something that's not my fault? Go ahead. But remember the one who exiled Mayara also exiled me just because I wasn't like him. One of the main reasons I'm leaving tonight and not staying for a week or two is because Mayara and the other exiles are still out there. So go ahead. blame me. attack me if you like. All it'll do is make you look like an idiot. We're on the same side. You've got that going for you. Don't ruin it by letting your frustration hurt the ones who've been trying to help all this time" growled Septimus as he stood in front of the black Dragon, the latter eyeing him intensely for a few moments, not knowing how to react to it. After a minute of thought the Dragon shook his head, confused but convinced. "Fine" hissed Lazarus as he eyed Septimus, the black Dragon getting to his feet. "We'll see" he added as he turned away, spreading his black wings, beating them as he leapt, flying off. "Why'd you stop me? That whining whelp's been needing a hit across the muzzle for years" growled Sardanus with a smirk, Septimus shrugging. "You'll get another chance. I didn't want that hit to be on my account. Would be counter-intuitive" responded Septimus calmly as he walked back to the water, settling on his flank as he began to drink...
Andruil eyed the Dragon concernedly as he took to the air. sighing, the man walked over to Furax, making sure what little of his gear he had was packed before glancing at the others. "Let's get moving. With a bit of luck we should be sleeping in some actual beds tonight" he said as he began to move towards the mountains...
"Ah yes, organised chaos. the sign of a clever but ever-busy mind. To the perpetrator, a carefully woven web of belongings and intrigue, but to the bystander? Madness!"
–William Beckett, Lore of Leyuna RPG